Instead of voting for the appointments as a group, county board member Michael Kohr asked for the appointments to be done separately. Though he could not state his reasons in open session, he would not be voting for Dove to be appointed to the board, Kohr said.

Anderson said he had talked with the ETSB chairman (Randy Philhower) who said Dove was qualified to be on the board and had done a capable job when serving previously on the board. She’s willing to serve on the board again, and he’s heard no complaints from ETSB Board members about Dove, Anderson said.

Dove’s appointment was approved by a 14 to 9 vote, with board members Rob Pozzi, Tom Ptasnik and Tom Giordano absent.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the county board unanimously approved two bridge projects totaling more than $800,000 for Hall and Neponset townships.

Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Sondgeroth presented the two bridge projects for consideration. The first project is the removal and replacement of an existing bridge structure which carries Township Road 398 over Spring Creek in Hall Township. The board awarded the contract to D. Construction, based in Coal City, with a low bid of $534,284.

The board also approved the removal and replacement of an existing bridge structure over West Fork of Spoon River in Neponset Township, The board awarded the contract to Curnyn Construction, based in Geneseo, with a low bid of $274,456.

In other highway department action, the county board unanimously approved rehiring John Gross of Wyanet for his second, six-year term as county highway engineer. The Illinois Department of Transportation, which splits the cost of the engineer’s salary 50/50 with the county, has approved the rehiring of Gross, Sondgeroth said.